Looking for a gluten-free or no-carb fajita option -- or just a pretty way to serve great steak and veggies? Gotcha covered with this recipe.
Ingredients
1 flank steak - approximately 1.5 pounds
Olive oil
1 sweet onion
3 cloves garlic
1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
Shredded cheddar, monterey jack or Mexican cheese
Seasoning
** You can use pre-made fajita seasoning, or make your own (it's easy) **
- 1/2 teaspoon each of:
chili powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Seed the peppers and slice into thin pieces. Peel the onion and slice into thin pieces. Peel and mince the garlic.
- If making your own seasoning, combine all ingredients into a small bowl or spice bottle.
- Trim any fat off of the flank steak and lie flat on the counter or cutting board. With a meat mallet, pound until the meat is an even and thin rectangle. Sprinkle liberally with the fajita seasoning, both sides.
Cooking
- Heat about 2 Tablespoons of oil in an oven-proof skillet or cast iron pan, and saute the bell peppers, onion and garlic until soft -- about 10 minutes.
- Place about 1.5 cups of the sauteed peppers/onion/garlic in a single layer onto the center of the steak, leaving a half inch on every side of the steak. Depending on the size of the peppers and the steak, you may have some sauteed pepper mixture leftover (don't overstuff).
- Roll the steak tightly, starting at one of the short ends of the rectangle.
- Using long toothpicks or wooden skewers, stab into the steak roll about every inch or inch and a half at the long edge of the roll, to hold the roll together. Wooden skewers work well, because you can stab them all the way through. You may have to snap the end off the skewers to fit them in the pan.
- Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll between the toothpicks. A pound of steak should make 4 evenly cut slices.
- Heat another Tablespoon of oil in your skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the pinwheels of flank steak in the pan about 2 minutes on each side.
- Transfer the skillet to the hot oven and cook for 10 minutes.
- At minute 9, sprinkle with cheese and cook another minute until melted.
Serving
Pull the skewer out before eating. Serve with pico de gallo, Spanish rice and margaritas.
Homemade pico is easy to pull together with diced tomatoes, diced sweet onion, minced jalapenos (fresh or pickled) and cilantro (dried or fresh).
A Little Backstory
At dinner time, we realized we didn't have a mix for the Spanish rice, which we usually buy boxed. The solution was actually much tastier: brown rice (use microwaved or Minute Rice), with a can of diced tomatoes and chilies. We added about a Tablespoon of cumin, to spice it up. Damn, I love cooking with a terrific guy and without a recipe.
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